Farm bill hangs in limbo

Measure sprouts 67 amendments; could lie dormant until next year

Measure sprouts 67 amendments; could lie dormant until next year

November 10, 2007|By Michael Doyle, McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Senators can't seem to get off the dime, so a $286 billion farm bill remains stalled. Following a week of sluggish debate, the Senate has yet to consider any of the dozens of farm bill amendments that lawmakers have authored. The political gridlock and a presidential veto threat raise the prospect that Congress could simply punt this year. “Here we sit,” Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, conceded Thursday. Harkin chairs the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, which on Monday delivered to the full Senate a farm bill spanning some 1,600 pages. By Thursday, senators had prepared at least 67 potential amendments, some symbolic and some legislatively essential. Among the proposed amendments is a long-shot bid to change crop subsidies, including reducing the maximum amount that a two-member farm family can receive from $360,000 to $250,000. But so far, neither voting nor substantive discussion has taken place. Instead, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., used a parliamentary maneuver that effectively blocked further amendments. That's forcing Democratic and Republican leaders to negotiate debate procedure, hemmed in by a two-week congressional break that starts Nov. 16. Much of the maneuvering anticipates future House of Representatives and Senate negotiations. The House passed its version of the farm bill in late July. Following what could prove to be a make-or-break weekend, an agreement could be announced as early as Tuesday on handling the myriad amendments. The Senate's marquee amendment is likely to be one co-authored by Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana and Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, which would phase out the “direct payment” crop subsidies estimated to provide $26 billion over the next five years.